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Happily, imported and frozen blueberries make it easy to enjoy them all the time.

But before you get out the muffin pan, let's tackle some of the issues we often run into when making muffins. Typically, the batter is made with white flour and a ton of fat and sugar. It's a delicious combination, but one that makes blueberry muffins more an indulgence than a healthy choice.

It was easy to swap some of the white flour with whole wheat, but I also added oat flour to the mix. I worried that oat flour might be hard to find, but I discovered that making your own is easy: Just pulverize the oats in a blender until smooth. I loved what the oats brought to the recipe besides fiber and nutrients, principally a sweeter and heartier flavor than wheat flour. They also made the muffins moister.

Thanks to the mashed banana, which contributed moisture of its own, this recipe for a dozen muffins required only 3 tablespoons of butter. Just make sure the banana is very ripe to get the most out of its flavor and natural sugars. I also substituted low-fat — and big-flavored — buttermilk for the full-fat milk usually called for.

Finally, I jacked up the pleasure quotient by adding lemon and cinnamon, which always pair up beautifully with blueberries, and conjured some crunch by topping the muffins with a little extra sugar.

In a medium bowl, combine the banana with the buttermilk, egg and butter. Mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until they are just combined.

In a medium bowl, toss the blueberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, then transfer them to a strainer and shake off the excess flour. Add the blueberries to the batter and gently fold them in.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan. The batter should be slightly mounded above the edge. Sprinkle the granulated sugar evenly over the tops of the batter, then bake the muffins on the oven's middle shelf for 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted at the center of the muffins comes out clean. Let the muffins rest, in the pan, for 5 minutes before serving.